Non-implementation of Sea Protection Levy costs NIMASA $3bn

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) lost $2,950,151,671.14 in three years through non-implementation of the Sea Protection Levy (SPL) by past managements. This, The Nation learnt, was between 2013 and 2015.

The discovery, it was gathered, was made when its Director-General (DG), Dr Dakuku Peterside, and the management team visited the Eastern zone of the agency. The SPL regime came into force in 2012. Peterside and his team, according to sources, were shocked when the revelation was made to them in Port Harcourt.

Under the regime, NIMASA is to collect N1,500 or $9.38 per cubic metre of pipeline from high-water mark to termination point offshore. The revenue that was supposed to accrue to the agency from the levy, between 2013 and 2015, according to sources, was N471,772,655,009 or $2,950,151,671. It was also discovered that other avenues that could have boosted the agency’s revenue profile were not explored. Read more